The tour of the retrospective THE ANARCHIC CINEMA OF VĚRA CHYTILOVÁ is produced by Comeback Company; the program was produced and originated at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in partnership with Czech Film Fund. Curated by Jesse Trussell. Films provided by the Czech National Film Archive, Negativ Film and Bonton.

Program begins with the short documentary“Journey” ("Cesta," 2004, 52 min. Dir. Jasmina Bralic) “I was daring enough to want absolute freedom, even if it was a mistake.” So declares 74-year-old Věra Chytilová in this revealing documentary portrait, which finds the director reflecting on her life and career with the same uncompromising attitude she brought to her groundbreaking films. Interweaving interviews, home movies, and footage from Chytilová’s films, JOURNEY is an often disarmingly candid look at a visionary artist. - Brooklyn Academy of Music

This program is free to American Cinematheque Members.

PANELSTORY

PANELSTORY ANEB JAK SE RODÍ SÍDLISTE

1980,
96 min,
Czechoslovakia,
Dir: Věra Chytilová

One of the unsung masterpieces of Vera Chytilová’s still largely obscure post-’60s career, this stingingly satiric yet deeply human tragicomedy surveys the everyday absurdity of existence in a ramshackle, perpetually-under-construction prefab housing complex: a monument to Communist idealism that, in its forlorn shoddiness, becomes a symbol of its failings. Blending slapstick gags with a jagged vérité visual style, Chytilová fashions a devastatingly funny portrait of life in a (literally) crumbling society. - Brooklyn Academy of Music

Vera Chytilová’s third and final collaboration with writer-costume designer Ester Krumbachová - with whom she also co-scripted DAISIES and FRUIT OF PARADISE - is an unsparing portrait of an aging Don Juan who foolishly clings to youth by pursuing younger women. A pointed riposte to the libidinal wish-fulfillment fantasies peddled by so many male directors, this caustic comedy mercilessly skewers male vanity and gives women the last laugh. - Brooklyn Academy of Music